The United Nations General Assembly has held a moment of silence to mourn the death of DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.

The United Nations General Assembly has held a moment of silence to mourn the death of DPRK leader Kim Jong Il.

The observance was held at Pyongyang's request and lasted for 25 seconds, after which the Assembly continued with its scheduled meeting. Nassir Abdula-ziz Al-Nasser, president of the 193-nation assembly, cited UN protocol as the reason for agreeing to the request, as Kim was an acting head-of-state.

The moment of silence was boycotted by Western delegations from the US, the EU and Japan.